Electronic "smart skin" would simplify vital sign monitoring

(CBS/AP) Call it smart skin. Researchers have developed a tattoo-like film that would allow doctors to monitor a patient's vital signs without the bulky wiring and electrodes now required.

Pictures: Smart Skin - Can "tattoos" tell when you're sick?

"What we are trying to do here is to really reshape and redefine electronics...to look a lot more like the human body, in this case the surface layers of the skin," said John A. Rogers, founder of the company that is developing the device. "The goal is really to blur the distinction between electronics and biological tissue."

In a paper published in Friday's edition of the journal Science, researchers explain that they embedded electronic sensors in a film thinner than the diameter of a human hair - and then placed it on a polyester backing like that used for kids' temporary tattoos. The result? A sensor flexible that is enough to bend with human skin.

Instead of using an adhesive, the bandage-like device relies on a weak force called the van der Waals force, which causes molecules and surfaces to stick together without interfering with motion. Sound familiar? This is the force that allows geckos to climb smooth vertical surfaces. In tests, the device remained in place for up to 24 hours. Although normal shedding of skin cells would eventually cause the monitors to come off, Rogers said he thought they could remain in place as long as two weeks.

In addition to monitoring heart rate and temperature, the device could monitor brain waves, aid muscle movement, sense the larynx for speech, emit heat to help heal wounds and perhaps even be made touch sensitive and placed on artificial limbs, Rogers said. He declined to state how soon the electronic skin would be ready for market or what it would cost.

The device could help fill the need for equipment that has more reliable monitoring - and is more convenient and less stressful for patients, said Zhenqiang Ma, a University of Wisconsin engineering professor who was not part of the research team. The device can simply be stuck on or peeled off like an adhesive bandage, he said.